It is common practice to provide a closure panel such as a hood for closing a vehicle engine compartment, the hood being hinged to the vehicle body for movement between an extended position removed from the engine compartment and a retracted position where the hood closes the engine compartment to protect it from weather, dirt and debris. In the extended position, the hood provides access to the engine compartment for maintenance and inspection of the engine compartment and it is therefore required to provide means for supporting the hood in such an extended position. Commonly, a prop is fixed at one end to the vehicle body adjacent to the engine compartment and has a free end which is selectively engaged with a portion of the vehicle hood, such as a receiving aperture.
One problem which is associated with vehicle hoods is that the operator must have one hand free to raise and support the hood in the extended position until the free end of the prop is engaged in the receiving aperture by another hand. Another problem which arises is that the prop is not positively located in the hood and if it becomes disengaged by a sudden movement of the vehicle, vibration or wind, the hood will suddenly be released and close the compartment, and perhaps injure an operator.
One of the objects of this invention is to provide a prop assembly which will alleviate these problems and advantageously, may also be less expensive to manufacture than conventional hood props and be lighter, thereby improving the combustion fuel efficiency for the vehicle.